Worse than that is SK President @moonriver365 using children to pose with the man who ordered that #JamalKhashoggi be murdered. The @TheBlueHouseENG should be ashame & apologize. @KarenAttiah pic.twitter.com/7O7VxUgKVn
— Greg DeRego (@gregderego) June 26, 2019
I wonder if President Trump asked Ambassador Harris about that mustache?
I find it interesting that the Moon administration allows journalists that print facts to be arrested and languish in jail, but union allies that break the law they allow to go free:
Kim Myeong-hwan, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a militant labor umbrella group, was released on bail Thursday, a week after being arrested on charges of masterminding assaults on police during outdoor rallies.
The Seoul Southern District Court approved Kim’s release on a bail of 100 million won ($86,360) but attached a condition under which he should only stay in his residence.
Kim was also ordered to obtain court approval before moving out of his residence or going on an overseas trip and to comply with a summons from the court.
The same court issued an arrest warrant last Friday for Kim, who was accused of overseeing violent illegal acts during KCTU members’ four protest rallies in front of the National Assembly compound on May 21 last year, as well as March 27 and April 2 and 3 this year.
During the protest rallies, labor activists knocked down parts of the fence surrounding the National Assembly in Seoul’s Yeouido, assaulted police officers, destroyed police equipment and attempted to force their way into the compound illegally to block the passage of labor bills, including those calling for extending statutory flextime from three to six months to minimize side effects of the government’s mandatory 52-hour workweek policy.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link, but the KCTU who is well known for their violence, pro-Kim regime stance, and anti-Americanism vowed to launch massive protests against the Moon administration if Kim was not released. Sure enough Kim is released while journalists languish in jail.
You would think with such a discrepancy the international media would be all over this, but very few are reporting on this.
Chinese Emperor President Xi during a G-20 summit meeting with President Moon is once again calling for the removal of the THAAD missile defense system from South Korea:
They talked about various pending issues for around 40 minutes through simultaneous translation.
Some thorny issues were raised as well, such as the China-U.S. dispute over cybersecurity related to 5G technology and the advanced U.S. missile defense system deployed in South Korea, called THAAD, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.
Xi asked Moon to resolve the THAAD problem, as Beijing has been strongly opposed to its presence on the peninsula. Moon replied that it’s a matter linked with denuclearization.
At the outset of the talks, which pool media were allowed to cover, Xi said Beijing would contribute to maintaining regional peace and stability.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but China does not sound like much of a friend and promoting peace when it tells South Korea to disarm itself and make its citizens vulnerable to missile attacks from the thug regime the Chinese support.
If Kim Jong-un does meet with President Trump at the DMZ, it seems that should be taken as a sign that the regime believes a deal to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Kumgang Tours is a real possibility. Meeting with the President at the DMZ would be a perfect opportunity for Kim to make his case for reopening the complex directly to the U.S. President:
U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he expects to have a “really interesting” visit to the inter-Korean border amid keen attention on the possibility of his meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un there.
He was speaking to pool reporters just before joining a welcome dinner hosted by President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul’s presidential office, shortly after his arrival in South Korea.
On a potential three-way summit between the two Koreas and the U.S. during his tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Sunday, Trump said, “We’re gonna see. We are working things out right now.”
When a reporter asked him about whether he has “heard anything” from North Korea, he said, “We have. Yes.” He did not elaborate.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon hired these light blue-vested thugs tossing people to the ground. Dozens were injured. https://t.co/VUxfUGLgHv
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) June 26, 2019
You can read more at my prior posting about this violence in Seoul.
This sucks for this man’s family, but like I have said every time someone gets detained in North Korea, I have little sympathy for them. No one should be traveling to North Korea and supporting the Kim regime:
The family of an Australian who vanished in North Korea in mysterious circumstances have broken their silence.
Alek Sigley, 29, who is a postgraduate student at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang and a self-employed tour company operator, has not been seen or heard from by friends and loved ones for more than 48 hours.
He was identified in South Korean media overnight as having been taken into custody by North Korean officials.
Australian officials have been trying to confirm whether he has in fact been arrested or if there is some other explanation for his disappearance.
On Thursday afternoon, Mr Sigley’s family issued a statement confirming they remained unsure of his fate.
“As of 1pm (AEST), it has not been confirmed that Alek has been detained in the DPRK,” it said.
“The situation is that Alek has not been in digital contact with friends and family since Tuesday morning Australian time, which is unusual for him.
“Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is therefore seeking to confirm his whereabouts and welfare.”
“Alek is an Australian-born Asian scholar and traveller who has visited, studied and lived in several countries in Asia. Alek can speak Mandarin and Korean fluently along with some Japanese.
“He is studying for a Masters in Korean literature at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang. Alek’s family hope to re-establish contact with him soon.”
News.com.au
You can read more at the link, but hopefully he is able to return home alive and not tortured unlike what other detainees experienced from the Kim regime.
Here we go again the with Moon administration pushing the Trump administration to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex an the Mt. Kumgang Tours before denuclearization takes place:
South Korea’s minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs said the government could consider resuming cross-border projects such as the Mount Geumgang tours and the Gaeseong industrial park before full-scale sanctions relief to facilitate the denuclearization process.
During an interview with Yonhap News Agency and six other global news agencies in Seoul on Wednesday, a reporter asked Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul whether the inter-Korean economic projects could restart before Pyongyang’s complete denuclearization.
Kim said the two projects could resume following sanctions relief or be considered in the early stages of sanctions relief as an exceptional step to faciliate denuclearization.
The remarks come after President Moon Jae-in, in a written interview with the seven news agencies, said he suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump fully utilize inter-Korean economic cooperation as corresponding measures to induce the North’s denuclearization.
KBS World Radio
You can read more at the link, but we have been down this road before. President Bush agreed to a deal with the North Koreans that left the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mt. Kumgang Tours cash cows open and the North Koreans did not denuclearize. They blew up an old nuclear cooling tower for the cameras which I am sure Kim Jong-un is willing to do again for the same deal.
It can be argued that all the Bush deal did was increase funding for the regime to further develop their nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. Does the Trump administration want to be ones that allows the Kim regime to complete the development of their nuclear weapons program?
